http://dailynews.mcmaster.ca/story.cfm?id=6624

McMaster launches new virtual tour

Want to see McMaster University’s beautiful campus but can’t make it in-person? 

The new online tour provides more multimedia, interactivity and information for visitors to tours.mcmaster.ca. The portal allows prospective students to take a “Guided Tour” designed to emulate an in-person walking tour, create a personalized tour (based on categories relevant to prospective students) or explore various campus hotspots.

“The new virtual tour will benefit many prospective students,” said Andy Moonsammy, a liaison officer with Student Recruitment & Admissions. “The tour makes it easier for students to see McMaster, particularly those living far away and not able to visit, as well as those who might not realize what’s in their own backyard.”

The new virtual tour has already been explored by visitors from various communities across Canada and countries such as China, India, Brazil and New Zealand.

“Seeing a campus often solidifies a student’s decision to attend a university,” said Paula Johnson, assistant registrar and 18-year veteran in the recruiting industry. “Our new tour allows us to bring the McMaster campus to an entirely new group of students who may not have even considered us before.”

We encourage our students to really think about what they are looking for in their education and how they will put their tuition dollars to work.  Usually when we ask students at this time of year, “Why do you want to attend University X?” or “Why is University X your first choice?”- the answers we receive are overly general and tend to be about the university’s aesthetics (“It is a pretty campus.”) or location (“It is close/far from home.”).  Additionally, we find many of our students pick a faculty randomly or by feedback from friends.   We tease them at this point and encourage them “to defend their decision in an educational court of law”- to which they usually smile and respond, “Melinda, I know nothing about the academics there.”  We then set on a mission to change this in two steps.

One we make a list of values or priorities for their education and their post-secondary search.  Values need to be educationally related- such as class size, quality of instruction, range of majors offered, opportunities for coop or internship, international study options, and/or specialized features of the university curriculum.

We then enter a period of research.  We encourage students to move away from the admissions pages of the websites; because at this point, they have selected their courses and have a solid understanding of what marks they need.  Instead, we want them on the FACULTY pages learning more about what it means to study a particular major at a specific university.  What courses will they have to take?  What special opportunities are available?  What values does the site portray?  What students are highlighted?